Doha
01 March, 2017:

Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) Ambulance Service Medical Communication Center has successfully been re-accredited as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) by the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch (IAED). This follows the Communication Center’s initial ACE recognition in 2014, the first time the prestigious accreditation was awarded in the Middle East.

Each year, the Ambulance Service Medical Communication Center receives more than 200,000 calls at the National Command Center. On receiving the calls, a team of dispatchers utilizes a standardized triaging system to carefully assess the most appropriate action and resource required.

Dr. Robert Owen, Chief Executive Officer of HMC’s Ambulance Service said "This re-accreditation formally endorses the consistent quality of service provided by our teams in the Ambulance Service Medical Communication Center.”

He said “The role of our Communication Center is often less well recognized than that of our front-line paramedics, but is no less important. Our medical dispatchers receive thousands of calls each week and it is vital that the requirements and priority of each call is determined quickly and accurately, so that the correct emergency response teams can be deployed immediately,” Dr Owen said.

Thomas Reimann, Executive Director of the Healthcare Coordination Service also commented on the Ambulance Service Medical Communication Center’s success in achieving re-accreditation as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE). He said “As part of the successful re-accreditation, our Communication Center was critically assessed on 25 requirements set out by the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch.”

“The IAED is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to the promotion of safe and effective emergency dispatch services. “Receiving this re-accreditation from IAED is a wonderful achievement for our communication teams and recognition of this vital area of our Ambulance Service,” told by Reimann.

The IAED re-accreditation is the latest international recognition of the high quality service provided by HMC’s Ambulance Service. It adds to a list of previous accreditation including Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation for the entire Ambulance Service in 2011 and 2014, as well as European Aero-medical Institute accreditation for the Life Flight Service in 2014.